Beginners and Beyond

Erie Marathon RR (Read 119 times)

Jack K.

It writes upside down.

posted: 9/17/2013 at 9:21 PM

Wow!!! What a RR! What a race! Jay, the pre-race read like some kind of murder mystery page turner and I couldn't put it down! In hindsight, I know you thought you were reckless, but maybe you are faster than you thought? That was a hell of a race. Also, during your rock star hotel stay, why the dry mini-wheats?

Lilac - (un?)fortunately, there is no official photographer evidence of the finish line cray-cray. ;p

Lily - Aw, shucks. Jenny ran a 3:07, I hope she bounces back and continues to turn in the awesome races that I've been witness to previously.

Jack - The mini wheats are now a "don't mess with success" thing. I had planned on getting soy milk, but opted to just not bother with one more thing on Saturday.

Goorun

posted: 9/17/2013 at 11:12 PM

What a great race. I read every word after being alerted to this RR by Julie (thanks Julie).

I ran a lot of marathons in my lifetime and I've never ran negative split. To do it from aggressive first half at the pace which was foreign to you in previous marathons is just astonishing. Huge portion of marathon racing is mental and you seem to have a knack for it.

- I made a decision around 6-7 miles that I'd stop obsessing over splits and just run.

- the inner conflict fought that off. "It's just another HM now, way slower than HM pace.

- Get to 16 without losing ground. Be conservative until 20 and only then start the endgame

- I used a tactic that has worked well for me in the past, thinking about training runs and trying to make my current fatigue the lesser fatigue of that easy, shorter distance

All these are part of what sport psychologists taught us when I ran on competitive level. You just get it.

What an excellent race and report! Congrats on your massive PR! True star here among us.

I was there too, nowhere near your pace of course, and everything was just as described (had to laugh at the "lemon-lime bathroom cleaner" taste.. I believe it was GU Brew ) It's a great little race that most people never heard of.

Long term goal:To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).

outoftheblue

posted: 9/19/2013 at 2:20 PM

Wow! Congratulations on a fantastic race and 3 in your AG. I really enjoyed your race report as well. Well done.

PRs: 5K (26:35); 10K (53:55); HM (1:58:53); FM (4:20:20)

meaghansketch

posted: 9/21/2013 at 7:39 PM

I remember you posting in the dailies when you said you first started thinking that sub-3:00 might just be the beginning for you. I think this race proves it. You did everything right here-- solid training, smart goal-setting, you chose people to run with intelligently but let them go when the pace was too fast. You did a great job of running by feel-- you kept going when the pace was faster than your goal pace, because it felt right, and you were vindicated in the end. And like goo says you absolutely had the mental game down. I know I was making mental notes of things as I read your RR-- particularly what you felt at halfway-- just a HM to go, much slower than HM pace. It's obviously true but sometimes it's the kind of thing you need to call up when you hit that mark.

And of course needless to say dedicating the race to Happylily is just super sweet

Amazing, amazing job. Congratulations and I hope you are kicking back and relaxing a bit-- you've earned it.

Loved the report! 18 mile training run @ sub-GMP?! Was the actual race ever in question after that?! That's not part of Pfitz, is it? The furthest I've gone is 11 miles @ goal pace [and was able to come in 5 minutes faster than BQ]. Can't imagine doing one as long as 16-18 miles - yikes!

Quite surprised you managed to survive the fast start and not fade at the end. That's usually a bad manuever. Seems to me you were fitter than you thought when you arrived ta your original goal.

Funny your half split was slightly slower than mine during my PB race and I felt pretty much as you describe - no fear. Felt great, let's just see what happens. Seems you played it right - just banking miles until mile 20 and then reaccessing the situation. Bad news on having to deal with overtaking slow walkers / runners the last 10k.

I love the Citgo sign! That should serve as motivation just when you need it. That's crazy that you ran a "suicidal" early pace and then only ran faster the 2nd half. "Nothing would have indicated that I could run a 6:38 pace for 26.2 miles." I wouldn't overthink it. Some days the Gods and the wind is at your back. Savour those moments.

Moth - thanks for posting, good to see you. You're right, that 18 was not Pfitz, there's a bit of Canova sprinkled in. I read this article a lot.

I read that article as well and posted commentary on RWOL about a year ago. Did you do the GMP run like Canova [interval style] or continuous? My succesful half marathons the last couple of years have been a blend of [abridged] Hudson mixed in with Canova race pace workouts.

Been away for a bit, but so happy to come back and see this!!! Congratulations. I had ZERO doubt you would go sub 3, it was just a matter of by how much. I can relate to how you felt about being a little reckless from my last marathon, but you do seem to be pretty tuned in to what you can handle in a given race. With all the training you put in, I think there's a little bodily "intuition" that begins to develop. Seeing that clock flashing 2:53 must have been so sweet. 2:45 next?

Been away for a bit, but so happy to come back and see this!!! Congratulations. I had ZERO doubt you would go sub 3, it was just a matter of by how much. I can relate to how you felt about being a little reckless from my last marathon, but you do seem to be pretty tuned in to what you can handle in a given race. With all the training you put in, I think there's a little bodily "intuition" that begins to develop. Seeing that clock flashing 2:53 must have been so sweet. 2:45 next?